Carla Kirkland

Before you get too excited, understand that the following information isn’t actually about how to cheat on the Praxis. It’s really about the most efficient ways to prepare for the exam. But “preparation sheet” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Besides, cheating is unnecessary if you know what you’re doing, and sometimes figuring out what to do is actually easier.

Problems involving inequalities on the Praxis Core exam will usually require you to do some math—but they may also involve recognizing the symbols on a number line.In the following practice questions, you start by solving an inequality, and then you need to match the inequality to its appropriate graph on a number line.

When you're asked to solve an algebraic problem—for example, a system of equations—on the Praxis Core exam, start by checking the variables. If you can easily isolate one of them, then you can probably use substitution.In the following practice questions, you start by performing a simple substitution within a rational algebraic expression; then, you go a little deeper by performing a more complex substitution to solve for two variables.

The best cones are those filled with chocolate ice cream. The second-best—well, a distant second—are the ones you'll find on the Praxis Core exam.As you'll see in the following practice questions, you may be asked to calculate a cone's surface area (in this case, based on its lateral area and base area) or its volume (in this case, given its radius and slant height).

The ancient pyramids have mystified people for thousands of years, just as pyramid questions on the Praxis Core exam have mystified ill-prepared test-takers. You can avoid this dreaded curse by remembering two simple formulas for the surface area and volume of a pyramid.The first practice question asks you to find a pyramid's surface area, while the second question drops a pyramid on top of a cube, and asks for their composite (combined) volume.

Prisms weren't invented just to divide light into beautiful rainbows; they're also useful for inducing painful headaches when you're asked to find their surface area or volume on the Praxis Core exam.Swallow a headache tablet and try the following practice questions. In the first one, you have to find the surface area of a right rectangular prism.

You can think of a cylinder as a circle with attitude. If you encounter a cylinder problem on the Praxis Core exam, you can knock it down to size if you remember a few simple formulas.In the first practice question, you apply the surface area formula to a right cylinder. In the second question, you need to use the volume formula—and a little subtraction—to get the right answer.

Even when two shapes look identical, they may not be. For example, on the Praxis Core exam, you may encounter a question where two shapes look the same, but you're told they are "similar." What does this mean? What if they're labeled "congruent"?If you're not sure, the following practice questions (and their explanations) should refresh your memory.

If you encounter a right triangle question on the Praxis Core exam, you can use good old Pythagoras' theorem to work out the answer. In some cases, you'll be able to skip the calculations and solve the problem using the properties of common right triangles!Both of the following practice questions can be worked out using the Pythagorean theorem—but if you know your common right triangles, you'll be done before you can say "Eureka!